Boat hook



June 9, 1959 w, FOX 2,889,797

I BOAT HOOK I Filed May 23, 1957 lzzverzioa- I'. Foac 2: main 9 M BOAT HOOK William P. Fox, Newton Center, Mass, assignor to Merriman Bros, Inc., Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 23, 1957, Serial No. 661,083 1 Claim. (Cl. 114221) This invention relates to marine equipment and is 2,889,797 Patented June 9, 1959 "ice more apparent as description proceds with the aid of the acompanying drawings.

Fig. l is an elevation of the boat hook showing the position of a rope thereon as initially picked up by the device.

Fig. 2 shows the rope in the same position, but with the boat hook rotated counter-clockwise through approximately 90 degrees.

Fig. 3 is a further view similar to Figs. 1 and 2 but with the boat hook roated an additional 90 degrees H counterclockwise with the rope in position in the loop connecting the shank and hook.

particularly concerned with that type of device known as I I a boat hook.

Boat hooks of the prior art are well known and need not be referred to here except to point out that they are commonly used by yachtsmen to pick up mooring lines as the boat comes up to the mooring. After the line has been picked up and brought aboard by the conventional boat hook, the yachtsman customarily grips the line with one hand while removing the hook from the line with the other, after which the boat hook is placed on deck or handed to another member of the crew so that the line may then by hand be passed through the chock and secured to the cleat or otherwise manipulated.

While the ordinary boat hook serves the purpose of getting the line aboard, it is virtually impossible theret after to manipulate the line in the manner required, that is, passing it through the chock and about the cleat, through the use of the boat hook. These operations up to the present must be conducted by hand. The present day boat hooks also suffer from the disadvantage of being unable to retain the line on the hook with certainty after it has once been picked up. Should slack develop or should the yachtsman through inadvertence lower the hook suddenly or tilt it at an inappropriate angle, it is possible for the line to jump out of the hook, whereby the mooring operation may be endangered.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a boat hook of new and novel construction which is capable of being manipulated in such manner that once the line has been caught on the hook the line cannot thereafter escape. Furthermore, the boat hook as disclosed herein is of such character that the line may be carried to and placed in the chock and may even be properly secured to the cleat through suitable movement of the boat hook itself rather than according to the conventional hand practice. To accomplish the above result, the shank and hook of the boat hook are connected by a specially designed loop into which the line will fall and be contained after rotation of the boat hook about its axis through an angle of approximately 180 degrees.

A further object of the invention is to provide a boat hook of inexpensive construction which will accomplish all of the results of the boat hooks of the prior art but which through its design will cause or tend to cause automatic rotation of the boat hook under pressure of the line thereon in such direction that the line will in due course fall into the securing loop.

It will be understood, however, that the uses of the present boat hook are not in any way limited to marine use as the device will serve in any situation where it is desired temporarily to secure a line or rope to the end of a pole or handle in a manner that will permit free longitudinal movement of the rope with respect to the securing means.

These and other objects of the invention will become Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 showing the secured position of the rope in the loop at the end of the boat hook.

On referring to the several figures, it will be seen that the boat hook comprises a handle 2 which may be of any suitable length, size and material, a shank 4 which is made integral with the handle, and a hook 6. The hook preferably curves upwardly, but such curvature is not necessary so long as the hook makes an acute angle with the shank. The shank and the hook are connected by a loop 8 which is of novel configuration and which is the basic feature of the invention. A rope or line 10 initially picked up by hook 6 as shown in Fig. 1 will subsequently by rotation of the shank be dropped into the loop as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, in which position it may be controlled by the user without any possibility of the rope or line escaping.

The lower portion of the shank 4 is bent as at 12, and it may be considered that the loop commences approximately at the point 14. The loop continues in the general form of a circle as viewed in side elevation, but the terminal end of the loop indicated at 16 in Figs. 3 and 4 is spaced laterally from the other end 14. This lateral spacing will become apparent upon a consideration of Figs. 2 and 4. The loop 8 is generally in the form of a single turn of a helix.

The shank, loop and hook are formed of a continuous rod of material strong enough for the purpose intended. Ordinarily this will be a bar or rod of Monel metal, stainless steel, bronze or even steel if rust is not a factor. The terminal end of hook 6 is protected with a rounded ball end 18 so as to minimize damage to other objects.

In the operation of the boat hook the user, acting in the normal manner, places the hook 6 under the line or rope 10. After bringing it to the position shown in Fig. 1, he then rotates the shank 4 in a counter-clockwise direction. After this rotation has continued for about degrees, the rope in relation to the shank, loop and hook will be in the position shown in Fig. 2. It is assumed for the purpose of this explanation that the engaged portion of the rope as shown in the drawings is extending in a horizontal direction toward and away from the viewer.

As the shank 4 is rotated still further counterclockwise, there comes a point where rope 10 may shift its position downwardly into the loop 8. After rotation of the shank has been continued through a full degrees to bring the hook 6 to the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the rope 10 will then be located within the loop, from which it cannot escape until the shank has been rotated clockwise to bring the various elements back to at least the position shown in Fig. 2. When in this position the boat hook may then be moved downwardly in relation to the rope so that the rope may be raised from the loop and freed altogether from the boat hook or, if desired, allowed to rest on the hook 6 in its initial position as shown in Fig. l.

The lateral space S between the ends 14 and 16 of loop 8 will be made suificiently large to permit the passage therethrough of the largest diameter rope with which the particular boat hook will ordinarily be used. If a rope larger than one capable of passing downwardly through the space S should be encountered, then the boat hook may be used in conventional manner with the rope 10 residing in the fork formed by the shank 4 and hook 6 as shown in Fig. 1.

With the rope secured in loop 8 as in Figs 3 and 4, the user is then able to guide the rope through the boat chock and bring it aft to the cleat; or he may otherwise manipulate the rope in any desired manner without fear of losing it overboard.

It will be observed that the lower end of shank 4 is preferably bent as at 12. This accomplishes two desirable results. One, it brings the loop 8 into general alignment with shank 4 so that in manipulating a rope positioned as in Figs. 3 and 4 the rope will be, generally speaking, aligned with shank 4. A second result produced by the bend 12 is this: with the rope 10 in the position shown in Fig. 1, it will be observed that it is resting on two downwardly sloping surfaces, one surface being that numbered 18 at the lower part of bend 12 and the other surface being that numbered 20 at the lower end of hook 6. Since the boat hook in the preferred form is made of a smooth stainless steel or Monel rod, the surface of which is relatively slippery, downward pressure of rope 10 on the laterally spaced surfaces 18 and 20 causes, or tends to cause, automatic rotation of the boat hook from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 3, with the rope 10 dropping from its initial position in Fig. 1 into the loop as in Figs. 3 and 4. This characteristic is desirable as it minimizes the necessity for the user to think which way the boat hook must be turned to get the rope into the loop as in Fig. 3.

It is my intention to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

A boat hook comprising a member of resilient rodlike material including a shank portion merging into a coil at one end, said coil having overlapping spaced portions and merging into a terminal hook portion, said shank and hook portions being disposed on one side of the point of overlap of said overlapping portions, and said coil being disposed on the opposite side of said point of overlap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,215,292 Koscierzyna Sept. 17, 1940 2,238,258 Flocker Apr. 15, 1941 2,431,164 Borgotte Nov. 18,1947 

